Sydney

Arriving here it felt like entering a Finnish sauna, only this one has no exit…
I’ve had some hot days in Melbourne – though not as many as I ‘d have liked – but not something like this.. I don’t mind the heat, but it s a moist sweaty heat.. guess by the time I get used to it, I will be on a plane back to sub-zero Belgium… and to be honest, even though I’m not yet dealing with the humidity too well, lying on a beach or in a park in the sun is preferable over freezing in Europe every time you go out the door.. Ideally I ‘d have a job where I’d have to work in Australia during (European) winter and in Europe during summer.. 🙄

Anyway, back to Sydney.. I’ve walked over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, in the Botanic Gardens and past what s called ‘The Rocks’.. a typical tourist area including the Opera house and a lot of restaurants and bars.. Looking at Sydney, it ‘s quite green, except for – again – a business district in the centre… to me it looks like a cancer in an otherwise beautiful city, but I guess I ‘ve gotten too much used to picturesque low rise European cities.
The weather was actually really good for walking.. there was a lot of sun and probably would have been quite hot if it wasn’t for a cool refreshing sea breeze. Which brings me to my next topic: sailing. This place looks perfect for sailing, both in larger yachts and smaller boats like a lazer, 420s or 470s. Pity I won’t be here for any longer but I think I ‘d want to come back, if only to get into a boat.. 😀

Till now I have stayed with friends, about a 45 minute train journey outside the cities centre, but I will be moving to a backpackers hotel in downtown Sydney today. I must say it ‘s nice to have slept outside a city for 2 nights.. much calmer, though the sounds of cards and drunk people is replaced by insects and other night dwellers. My sister ‘d kill to have the birds and trees here in our backyard at home.. :p I was able to get within a meter or so of a Kookaburra, which I’d never even seen till now.
Friends get to use their Dutch a bit – some could use a bit of practice I think (won’t say any names Milena ;)), but it can’t be so hard for such a language genius – and I get to tell them all the stuff that doesn’t normally end up in emails.. 😉 Anyway, it ‘s nice to actually see how they live here, and it s also nice to be here before my parent who have been talking about visiting them in Australia ever since they move 10 years ago 😛

Enough for now.. I have to pack my stuff and walk/crawl to the local railway station with all my stuff.. half of which I should have left in Belgium.. (my motorised transport s gone to work) 🙂 If i never arrive there, I ll likely be the puddle of molten human remains somewhere along the road…